Elizabeth Hopestan
by Autumn Hills
Summary: Alongside the main plot line of Harry Potter is the story of My OC Elizabeth, follow her through her experiences as part wizard part veela.  *cough* George Weasley x OC *cough*
1. Chapter 1

"Class this year has been a great school year. All of you have done exceedingly well. I am however, sad to say that one of our students will not be joining us again next year." The ten and eleven year old students began to whisper at the news. "Let us all wish Elizabeth Hopestan luck with her new school next year." The teacher motioned for a small girl in the front row to stand. The girl stood, her snow white hair flowed straight down to her waist, and her bright violet eyes stood out against her pale skin. The whispers turned to words of luck and wishing her happiness at her new school.

"I wish I could tell you all about the school I'll be attending, but my parents said it was a surprise." Elizabeth held a small smile on her face. A loud bell rang and the students began to cheer and scream with joy. Everyone walked into the halls of the school, Elizabeth walked up to her locker and was about to manage the lock when she was interrupted by a teary eyed girl with short brown hair and green eyes.

"Ellie why didn't you tell me you were moving?" The girl asked her sadly.

"I'm not moving Rina, I'm just going to a different school. Also what have I told you about crying." Elizabeth made a funny face causing the girl to giggle loudly, which in turn made Elizabeth laugh with her. "I didn't want to make people sad that's why I didn't tell anyone about it. You know it's my job to make everyone smile." She began to open her locker, taking all her belongings and putting them neatly in her backpack.

"If I had known I would have arranged a surprise going away party." She smiled. She knew that Elizabeth loved surprises. A boy with spiky black hair and brown eyes tapped her on the shoulder. Elizabeth turned and smiled when she saw the boy.

"Hey Marcus what's up?" She asked him still smiling.

"Is it true that your moving?" He had a concerned look on his face. Elizabeth frowned at the fact that she had to explain the situation again, but did it anyways. Marcus let out a sigh of relief when she told him. "Thank goodness, because I had something I wanted to ask… in private." He told her eyeing Rina who immediately got the hint and walked a couple feet away, starting up a conversation with some of the other students.

"What is it, is everything okay?" She asked him worried. Marcus began to act a little nervous, he took a deep breath before speaking.

"The thing is Ellie, I've known you since the first day I moved here when I was eight. We became friends really quickly, and I really enjoy being your friend. But-" He started telling her. She had a bad feeling about this, she had heard this from people before. "I like you as more then just a friend, and I was wondering if you would be my girlfriend?" As she had thought she wasn't surprised, she had that kind of effect on people sometimes. However there has yet to be a time where she could reciprocate their feelings. Which in the end made her sad, because they would be sad.

"I'm so sorry Marcus, but I don't feel that way about you, I like you and all but like a brother…" She frowned staring down at her running shoes. "I hope we can still be friends." When she looked up she was surprised that he was smiling.

"It's alright if I can't be there for you as your boyfriend, I'll be there for you as your brother." He held his arms out for a hug. Elizabeth smiled brightly before hugging him lightly. Then he left for his own locker leaving Elizabeth to walk over to Rina.

"Let me guess he asked you out?" Rina smiled at her slyly. Elizabeth frowned and nodded. "By your frown I would say that poor Marcus got rejected."

"Well I don't like him that way." She shrugged.

"You never like anyone that way." Rina laughed lightly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You've had twelve love confessions, and you've been asked out twenty-two times since I met you two years ago, and not once have I ever seen you date any of them." She began to grab her own things from her locker.

"Should I be concerned that you've been keeping count?" Elizabeth laughed in return. "I don't know, I've just never felt that way about someone, and I don't want to lead people into thinking that I do. That would be wrong." She had a serious look on her face now.

"You wouldn't have these problems if you weren't so popular. What is the key to popularity anyways?" She closed her locker, and the two of them began to follow the mass of students that were filing out of the school.

"I'm not popular I'm just nice to everyone whether they are nice to me or not." Elizabeth stopped looking both ways before they both crossed the street in front of the school.

"Maybe I should try that sometime, you were able to befriend and melt the heart of the school's biggest bully." Rina giggled walking backwards so that she was facing Elizabeth as she spoke.

"I did not 'melt his heart' I just like making people smile. He was really a nice guy he just had some family issues." She smiled nudging Rina to the left two inches causing her to avoid tripping over a mailbox. "Be careful, or you're going to fall over." Rina stuck her tongue out at her in response.

"Well whatever you did saved everyone from his problems, he's still a Grumpy Gus but he doesn't bully anyone anymore."

"I just hope that one day I can make enough people smile to make up for my past." Elizabeth stopped for a moment, after taking a deep breath she continued walking. Rina sighed softly.

"You know you mention your past a lot, but you never tell anyone what actually happened that you have to make up for." All that could be heard was the whistling of the wind. Elizabeth being uncomfortable with the situation and not wanting to answer the question she changed the subject.

"Isn't your birthday coming up soon?" She gave Rina her most believable smile. Rina knew she wasn't going to answer so she just went along with it.

"Yeah I'll be eleven tomorrow so you better come to the party the day after." She turned so that she was now walking side by side with Elizabeth.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." She giggled in response. They both stopped at a small red bricked house with the number seventy-eight written on it. "I'll see you later okay." She waved goodbye to Rina and ran into her house. "Mom, Dad, I'm home." She called.

"Oh Lizard you're home. Finally." A woman with long curly blonde hair, and blue eyes exclaimed with a smile. Elizabeth had many nicknames, her friends called her Ellie, her mom called her Liz or Lizard, and her Dad called her…

"Eliza my little goddess." A man with light brown hair and brown eyes hugged her from behind.

"Dad I'm not a goddess." She huffed escaping his grasp. "Are you guys going to tell me about my school now?"

"Oh yes, yes. Illiana show her the letter." Her father said excitedly to her mother. She happily handed Elizabeth a beige envelope with emerald writing on it. She was surprised that a school could make her parents so happy. They would have a week or two where they would be beyond lovey dovey with each other, but then they would have a whole month of just fighting and arguments. She opened the envelope and began to read it out.

"Dear Ms. Hopestan. We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September first. We await your owl by no later than July thirty-first. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress." Elizabeth froze, she looked up at her parents with confused and disbelieving eyes. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"No Lizard, you're a witch and that's not all either. You have slightly mixed blood, three parts witch one part Veela. Your father is a pureblood and I'm half witch, half Veela." Her mother smiled at her.

"Now I know you're pulling my leg, a Veela is a myth related to the also mythical Siren. I should know I got an A in Mythology." Her mind was having trouble getting around the situation. "Even if it were true, Veela have a hypnotising power, I do not." Her father let out a small sigh.

"Well Eliza, that's why we told you not to sing outside the house. Your power is almost entirely in your voice, if it was there anymore saying a simple sentence would turn people into your slaves. Luckily it's just when you sing." Her father stated.

"You have wizard powers too you know. When you were little you even used them, whenever you had a tantrum things would start flying around the room. Do you remember Hayley?" Her mother added, becoming soft at the mention of the name. Elizabeth knew what her mother was talking about, and her eyes begun to slowly fill with tears at the thought.

"Illiana that's enough we don't need to tell her about that day." Her father crossed his arms against his chest.

"She deserves to know Oliver, no. She NEEDS to know." She retorted angrily. Elizabeth knew that this would end in a fight between the two if she didn't intervene. So she wiped up her tears and stuck it up.

"Tell me." The seriousness of her voice startled her parents. Her father sighed before giving her mother a nod to continue.

"Well before a witch or wizard get their first wand, their powers are very unstable and react based solely emotion. When you and your sister were walking home from school that day, she did something that annoyed you right?" Her mother's voice was gentle. Elizabeth could see flashes of the day in her mind. She had been seven at the time and Hayley was five.

"_Elizabeth, I drew you a picture today, look!" A little girl with short blonde hair and brown eyes, was holding up a picture sloppily drawn in crayon. _

"_Hayley, I'm tired leave me alone." Elizabeth sighed angrily with crossed arms. They were walking home from school, Elizabeth had been up all night sick but wanted to come to school because she was feeling better, however she was still cranky. _

"_Just look at it." She whined. Elizabeth angrily took the drawing from Hayley and looked at it._

"_It's horrible you can't draw at all!" She pushed the drawing back into Hayley's hands. Hayley pouted at her words._

"_Well Mommy and Daddy don't want you singing, when we aren't at home because you sing real bad." Hayley had a sense of triumph in her voice at her comeback._

"_JUST SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" Elizabeth turned around angrily and when she turned around she witnessed the most horrifying thing. Somehow in a split second Hayley had gone from the sidewalk to the middle of the street just in time for a speeding car to hit her._

Elizabeth nodded with tears in her eyes that she remembered. "Well you got angry you used your magic. Now don't think this us saying it's your fault because it's not, we know it was just an accident. Your power brought her to the center of the road, you probably just wanted her away from you, and that's what it did." Her mother was trying to find the right words for the situation but it wasn't working very well. Elizabeth had already known that what had happened was her fault, she just knew how now. She got rid of the tears again and put on a fake smile, if she frowned her parents would stay unhappy, and she wouldn't want that.

"I see well I guess you're going to have to tell me how this works. The whole wizard, witch, whatever thing."

"Well Hogwarts is where your father and I met. He was a Slytherin and I was a Ravenclaw. We both excelled at Transfiguration it was love at first sight." Her mother sighed dreamily.

"Anyone who ever saw your mother felt love at first sight too." Her father laughed. "Though I'm glad her eyes were set on me." His words caused a small blush to form on Illiana's cheeks. Elizabeth, lived for these moments, where they actually looked like a happy family. When they weren't totally sappy and crawling all over each other, or yelling at each other. Perfectly set in the middle where she liked it.

"Wait, what's a Slytherin?" She asked not understanding most of what had been said. Her parents laughed together with large smiles.

"We'll explain everything when we go shopping for school supplies on Sunday." Oliver smiled.

"Sunday as in the day after tomorrow, Sunday?" She asked nervously.

"Yeah why?" He responded concerned.

"That's Rina's birthday party, I can't miss it, I promised I'd be there." She explained calmly.

"Well I'm sorry but that's when we set up our appointment to get you fitted for your robes, we can't miss that." Her father began to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"Well I guess if you guys helped explain the situation to her she'd understand." She smiled pulling her mother's arm lightly in the direction of the door.

"Lizard we can't tell Rina anything about this, she's a muggle. A person without magic is what muggles are, and muggles aren't allowed to know about us. It's a very important rule. We'll call Rina's mom and make up a reason why you can't go, alright?" She assured her. Elizabeth frowned lying is something she hated to do. But, there was nothing she could really do about it. So she just nodded in understanding.

"Alright go wash your hands for dinner." Her father said pointedly. She nodded and left the room to do as she was told.

**Sunday**

"Mom why are we at a pub?" Elizabeth asked confused. She had lived near the area where they were standing all her life yet she had never really noticed the small little pub.

"This is where the secret entrance to Diagon Alley is." Illiana smiled dragging her daughter into the pub.

"Illiana is that you?" The bartender laughed with a large smile as they entered.

"Hey, I can't believe you still work here. Lizard this is Tom he was working here when I was a first year. Tom this is my daughter Elizabeth." She smiled in return.

"Oh my just as beautiful as your mother I see." He took a white cloth and began to dry some glasses that were on the counter. Elizabeth blushed lightly and smiled in return. Suddenly she got a small chill down her spine, she looked around the room and saw a strange man wearing a turban in the corner of the room. He was having a stuttered conversation with an old lady. Elizabeth ignored the feeling and went back to paying attention to her mother. Illiana looked down at her watch and gasped at the time.

"Oh dear, it's nice to see you again tom but if we don't hurry we're going to be late." She didn't even give Tom a chance to say anything back bfore dragging her daughter out the back door of the pub. She smiled once they reached a large brick wall.

"Mom, you do realize this is a wall right?" Elizabeth sighed. "Were you and Dad drunk one night and came up with this whole thing or something?"

"Oh be quiet." Her mom laughed. "I wish your father didn't have to work today he would have loved to see your face when you see Diagon Alley for the first time." She took a long wand-like stick out of her left boot and began to tap it against the bricks in some sort of pattern.

"Is that your wand?" Elizabeth asked amazed.

"Yeah, ten inch Dragonwood with Veela Hair. Your father's is an eleven inch Birchwood with Phoenix feather." She tapped the wall in a couple more spots before the bricks began to move slowly. They opened up to reveal what looked like a whole other world. People of all shapes and sizes, were bustling about moving in and out happily of the various stores. Her mother inhaled deeply and let out a happy sigh. "Refreshing, it's been so long since I was last here."

Elizabeth could understand why her mother loved the place so much. There was a sense of pure power in the air, that startled her slightly. There was so many different aromas in the air it was hard to make out what was what, there was sweet smells, strong smells, and things she never smelled in her entire life. Her mother nudged her slightly with her elbow. "Come now we need to get you some school robes."

Illiana took Elizabeth to a place called **Madame Malkin's Robes for all Occasions**, where she was measured and given proper robes. As her mother lead her away from the store a loud shrieking noise caught her attention, causing her to stop. She looked over at a shop with a sign that said **Magical Menagerie **above it. A woman carrying a broom was shooing a black bat out of the store. "Get out of here you filthy bat!" The woman yelled. The bat in a panic flew straight to Elizabeth, she didn't even flinch as the bat stood on her shoulder, and seemed to hide behind her for protection.

"Oh mom, isn't he adorable! Can I keep him?" Her eyes pleaded at her mother. The bat walked down her arm and nuzzled Elizabeth's hand.

"Are you serious? The thing is a flying rat. Why don't I get you a nice fluffy owl instead?" Her mother asked opposing the small creature.

"But I don't want an owl, oh please I'll take good care of it I swear." She pouted.

"I'm not even sure they will even let him into the school, you're allowed pets but it clearly states an owl, cat, or toad, it says nothing about bats." Her mother told her sternly.

"I'm sure they'll let him in he isn't going to cause any trouble." She held her hands together pleading softly. Her mother sighed heavily and tapped her on the nose.

"Fine if that's what you really want." Elizabeth smiled at her mother's reply, she looked down at the tiny bat that was now standing on her index finger.

"I'm going to name you Zephyr." The bat shrieked happily in response. Elizabeth moved her hand up to her shoulder, where Zephyr moved and hid himself in the crevice, between her shoulder and neck.

"Alright I'll go buy some supplies for… Zephyr. While I do that you can go get your wand." Her mother pointed at a store with a large sign that said **Olivander's**. Elizabeth nodded in agreement and walked into the store. The store was dark and dusty, and every shelf was stacked to the brim with long thin boxes. Not a single person was in sight.

"Hello, anybody here?" She announced stepping towards the counter. An old man with curly grey hair appeared from within the rows of shelves.

"Oh, hello there." The man smiled walking into the main part of the room. "I know who you are." The man said pointedly. "You are Illiana and Oliver's daughter Elizabeth. You look a lot like your mother you know. Who's your friend? " He asked as he began to shuffle around.

"This is my bat Zephyr." She smiled.

"Well isn't that nice." Quickly grabbing a box he took out the wand inside and handed it to her. She looked at it a moment before fulfilling the urge to wave it around, as soon as she did the wand went flying across the room piercing through an old painting like a dart.

"I'm so sorry." She said shocked.

"Oh it's alright believe it or not that happens a lot. The wand chooses the wizard my dear, and that wand just wasn't for you." He tapped his chin in thought for a moment. "I think I know what you need, I'll be right back feel free to wander around." He quickly disappeared into the back leaving Elizabeth alone in the store. Zephyr took the opportunity to fly around the store and spread his wings. She sighed lightly wandering through the rows of shelves, the dust was soft to the touch. She wondered why they were so dusty.

"Are wands like wine or something?" She asked herself examining them carefully. A strange feeling in her stomach caused her to stop moving, she felt drawn to something. She looked around trying to find the source. Elizabeth began to run through the rows until finally she found it, a black wand box. It was high up on the shelves far out of her reach, she grabbed a nearby ladder and brought it to where she was. Carefully she climbed up the ladder all the way to the top, she grabbed the box and looked at carefully. "You don't look any different from all the rest."

She opened it and examined the wand. She could tell by the colour and style that it was made out of some sort of pine wood. There was a small engraved pattern on the handle of the wand, like small diamond shapes the rest of it was smooth and straight. Still holding the wand she began to descend the ladder, when about halfway down the ladder she overestimated the step and slipped. Eyes closed, instinctively Elizabeth waved the wand, she prepared herself for impact but it never came. "Well look at that." Olivander's voice caused her to open her eyes, she found herself floating about 3 inches from the floor.

"What in the world." Suddenly the floating stopped and she hit the floor with much less impact then if she had hit it from where she had been on the ladder. She stared at the wand in disbelief. "How did I?" Zephyr returned from his flight returning to his spot between her neck and shoulder.

"May I?" Olivander held out his hand for the wand. Elizabeth handed it to him as she stood and dusted herself off. "Ah, eleven inch pinewood with Phoenix feather and Veela hair. Very few wizards have been chosen by this particular type of wand my dear. Consider yourself very lucky." He handed the wand back to her. She looked down at the wand still amazed by everything that had happened. After a few moments of silence Illiana appeared and took her to do the rest of her shopping. By the time they go home they were both extremely tired, Elizabeth looked at the time and smiled.

"Mom, Rina's party isn't over yet do you think I could go to the rest of it so I can at least give her, her birthday present?" She asked. Illiana stared at her daughter with a strict look on her face before smiling.

"Alright, I'll call up Mrs. Brems and tell them your dentist appointment ended early, and that you're heading over." She picked up the phone and began to dial the number into the phone. With that Elizabeth ran quickly up to her room, placing the things they had bought at Diagon Alley on her bed, and placing Zephyr who was now in a pretty silver, on her dresser. She got on her hands and knees, and reached her hand under her bed taking out a small box wrapped in green paper, with a small silver bow on top. Moving the box to the nightstand she grabbed a bag of apple slices from one of the other shopping bags, and placed a couple in Zephyr's cage.

"I'm glad you're a fruit bat, I did a report on you. So I know exactly what you need to survive. I got an A on that report of course." Elizabeth giggled as the Zephyr began to nibble happily on the apple slices. She grabbed the green box from off the nightstand and walked to Rina's house which was only three houses over. She knocked three times on the door and then waited patiently. After about thirty seconds the door swung open and Rina immediately hugged Elizabeth tightly.

"I was so upset, I thought you weren't going to come." Rina dragged Elizabeth into the house, and straight into the living room where five other friends of both Elizabeth and Rina, were sitting quietly. Elizabeth new everyone there very well. Marcus was there, he had moved into town after his mother died when he was eight, when he first got here he wouldn't talk to anyone except Elizabeth. Jason was there, he had moved to town two years ago when his father got posted here, since he works in the army Jason has lived in many different places. Rina had a huge crush on him and Elizabeth also knew that he had a crush on her too, they would never admit their feelings to each other though. Kiera and Marie were there, they were twins and Elizabeth was the only one who could tell them apart they had always lived in the area. Then finally there was Krysta she had moved in only a couple of months after Marcus did, she was home schooled but that didn't stop them all from being friends.

"Come sit with us, Elizabeth." The twins smiled simultaneously. Elizabeth walked over and sat between the two, short blonde haired girls.

"You came just in time for presents." Rina smiled sitting down in the now complete circle on the floor, in her living room. Marcus handed Rina a box wrapped in wrapping paper that was blue with black musical notes on it. She ripped the paper off quickly destroying the pretty paper, underneath was a white box. Lifting off the top of the box her face lit up with joy, she pulled out a handful of piano sheet music books. "Thank you Marcus, how did you know I needed more sheet music?" Rina asked.

"Elizabeth told me that you were to get some." Marcus laughed. Elizabeth blushed lightly, she had actually helped everyone there with their gifts for Rina. She knew Rina like the back of her hand, she was the closest thing to a sister she had since what happened to Hayley. One by one the gifts were opened, Jason got her a stuffed elephant her favourite, Keira and Marie got her a makeup kit, and Krysta got her a new pair of her favourite flip flops. Then it was Elizabeth's turn she handed the small box to Rina, who carefully untied the bow and opened the box. Her smile grew bigger as she took out a silver necklace with half a heart on it that had 'best friends' engraved on it. Elizabeth pulled out the other half of the necklace that she had been wearing from under her shirt, it had 'forever' engraved on her half.

"Oh my goodness, this is amazing." She smiled hooking the locket around her neck.

"I'm glad you like it." Elizabeth couldn't help but smile in return. Throughout the rest of the party they played a couple games, and finished off the cake. As the party came to an end everyone began to leave, first the twins, then Marcus, Krysta, and finally Jason. Leaving just Elizabeth.

"I guess you have to go now too." Rina frowned slightly. "Did your parents tell you about the new school you're going to be going to in September?" Elizabeth had known that she was going to ask about it and she had already came up with a simple, clever plan. She would tell her the truth, just not the whole truth.

"Well it's a boarding school so I will only be home on holidays. But I'll write you at least once a week, I'm not sure of the address so if you decide to write me back just give it to my mom, she'll deliver it to me for you." She told her with a sense of triumph.

"What kind of boarding school is it?" Rina asked her. "you know how some schools can focus on just one thing like the arts, or technology." She couldn't just tell her 'it's a school for magical creatures, and mythical beings, that aren't suppose to exist'.

"I guess it's more of a literary oriented school…" She tried not to trip on her words as she spoke. "For people who have a …'magical' way with words." She felt good with how she explained it.

"Awesome it sounds like a great school. I hope you have lots of fun there and make lots of friends. But not too many I don't want you to forget about me. We'll miss you." Rina was frowning again. Elizabeth sighed before making another extremely funny face causing Rina to giggle.

"Like I said no frowning, I'm going to write you all the time, remember? So cheer up." Elizabeth headed towards the front door.

"Alright I guess." She sighed giving Elizabeth one last hug before she had to leave.

"Bye, I'll call you tomorrow." Elizabeth said her last goodbye before heading back home.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Throughout the rest of the summer Elizabeth hung out with her friends, studied the books she had gotten for Hogwarts, trained Zephyr, and listened to the many stories her mother and father had about the place. Slowly September finally came and they were at the train station. Elizabeth had her hair in a long braid, she wore a baggy black sweater, short jean shorts, and a pair of black dress shoes. As they reached the platform father groaned at the sight of a ginger haired couple standing in between platforms nine and ten. A young ginger girl stood next to them. "Molly!" The ginger woman turned around with a smile. Elizabeth thought she had seen a ginger haired boy disappearing into the wall but decided to just ignore it as her eyes playing tricks on her.

"Illiana, it's been too long." The woman smiled. The man beside her walked over with a grumpy look towards her father.

"Oliver." He nodded.

"Arthur." He scoffed angrily in return.

"Now, now Oliver, I know you don't like the Weasleys but they are my friends." Illiana held her hands on her hips staring at Oliver. "Elizabeth, this is Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, I was friends with them when I went to Hogwarts. Molly, Arthur this is my daughter Elizabeth, it's her first year."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Elizabeth smiled shaking both their hands shyly.

"Such a polite girl you have. This is our daughter Ginny." Arthur said finally smiling. Elizabeth looked over at the little girl, she had to only be about a year younger then herself. The two shook hands, both smiling.

"Don't you have a few boys too?" Her mother asked.

"Oh yes a little more than a few." She looked up at the clock. "My, my, we shouldn't be standing around you'll miss the train. Go on dear." Molly said with a smile. Elizabeth looked around the platform confused; she looked down at her ticket and frowned.

"Mom I don't get it?" She looked up at her mother confused. She just laughed in reply.

"Lizard just run at the wall, you'll be fine." Her mother pointed to the wall between the two platforms, she passed over the trolley to her. "Go on, get a good run, like you want a concussion." Her mother sounded a little too happy with her comment. Nonetheless Elizabeth ran at the wall with all her might, preparing for impact she felt a strange feeling as she reached the wall. She looked around and found that she was at a train platform.

"Wow." She said out loud to herself. She pushed her trolley to the train where she packed up all her stuff into the luggage area, then went looking for a room on the train to sit. She couldn't believe how many students were on the train, most of the rooms inside were full of people. Elizabeth was about ready to give up when a small red ball floated quickly past her. She turned her head to see where it had come from.

"ROGUE PAINT BOMB!" A set of ginger twins yelled from down the hall. Elizabeth looked at them confused, before turning back and coming face to face with the red ball. It hovered in front of her face a moment, she was about to take a step back when it suddenly exploded all over her. Elizabeth was now drenched in red paint, she had a complete look of shock on her face as she turned to face the two boys. They prepared themselves to get yelled at, but suddenly she began to laugh hysterically. "Are you okay?" One of them asked.

"Yeah, it's just that it was really funny, and surprising." She smiled finally calming down from her laughing fit. She used her hands to wipe the paint away from her eyes. "Do you think you could help me get it off though?" She asked politely. The twin boys smiled and escorted her to the room where they were sitting. Elizabeth dragged in her bag and put it off to the side. There was a girl with medium length dirty blond hair and brown eyes sitting in the room.

"Yo, Katie do you think you can fix this?" One of them asked showing her, the paint covered Elizabeth.

"You two need to be more careful with your little pranks." Katie stood up to get a better look at her.

"Little," One of the twins said with an offended look. "Our pranks are never little, only just right."

"Plus even she thought it was funny, who are you anyways?" The other twin asked.

"I'm Elizabeth, my friends call me Ellie. This is my first year." Elizabeth responded, watching as Katie went and grabbed something from her duffel bag.

"Well Ellie, I'm Fred and this is George." The twin on the Left introduced himself and the one on the right. She stared at them both intently.

"So, you're George." She pointed to the one who called himself Fred. "and you're Fred." She smiled triumphantly pointing at the other. They both gave her a confused look. "I have friends who are twins back home, I know how it works." Katie had several cloths and a brush in her hand.

"Sit." She told Elizabeth pointing at the seat across from her. She sat down and Katie began to work at Elizabeth's face.

"Well aren't you the smarty pants." Fred laughed sitting down next to Katie, George sat next to Elizabeth watching as Katie wiped the paint off her face and hair.

"Well, my friends hated it when people got them confused. I like making people happy, so I made it my duty to study them so I could make out which one is which. I've gotten so good at it, I can always tell the differences between people at first glance. I will always remember which of you is which from now on." She struggled lightly uncomfortable with the feeling of the cloth on her face.

"Stay still I'm almost done." Katie told her. She grabbed a brush and started brushing through her hair.

"I bet, that at least once this year you will call one of us the wrong name." George smiled. Just as Katie finished Elizabeth stood up and faced George with an innocent smile on her face.

"How much you willing to bet?" She had her face really close to George's. Her face and hair were finally completely free from the red paint, and Katie had put her hair back into a single long braid down her back. Fred and George were able to see how beautiful she actually looked, George was slightly flustered by the sudden closeness.

"You actually think you can do it?" Fred snickered causing Elizabeth to turn around.

"I know I can do it. I'm willing to bet 30 Galleons that I can do it in fact." She giggled. George stood up and held out a hand for her to shake.

"Deal." Elizabeth shook his hand. The deal had been made. Elizabeth had a small problem with competition, she always has to win no matter the costs. She never cheated, she just found ways around the rules. She didn't believe she would have to use any trickery with such a simple task. She turned over to Katie.

"Your name is Katie right, thanks for fixing me up I really appreciate it." Elizabeth gave her an innocent smile. Suddenly a girl with curly, dirty blond almost brown hair and brown eyes opened the compartment door.

"Have any of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost one." The girl asked. They all shook their heads. "Rats where could he have gone?" She asked herself.

"If you want I could come with you to help look." Elizabeth offered.

"That would be nice thanks." The girl moved so that Elizabeth could move into the hallway next to her. "I'm Hermione by the way, Hermione Granger." Elizabeth smiled happily.

"I'm Elizabeth Hopestan, but you can call me Ellie. It's a pleasure to meet you." She told her as they began to walk down the hallway. Hermione was already prepared for when the train would arrive, she was already wearing the full school uniform. Whereas Elizabeth was still wearing what her mother called 'muggle clothing' she kind of felt like she contrasted greatly against Hermione.

"You would never believe who I met in the compartment just three doors down from you. Harry Potter, I was so surprised I've read a lot about him." Hermione said with a matter o' fact tone.

"Who's Harry Potter?" She asked not knowing anything about the boy.

"How can you not know who he is?" Hermione asked seriously. When Elizabeth didn't respond she just answered the original question. "Harry Potter is the boy who lived, when he was only a baby he was face to face with an evil wizard. The wizard killed his parents with an unforgivable curse, he was going to kill Harry but something happened and he survived with nothing but a scar on his forehead." She sounded as if she was reciting the whole thing from a news article.

"Who's this evil wizard?" Elizabeth asked again. Hermione stopped abruptly in the hall.

"Are your parents muggles?" She asked curiously, Elizabeth shook her head in response. "Wow you are one sheltered child, his name is…" She brought her voice down to a very low whisper, "Voldemort."

"Why are you whispering?" She whispered back confused, seeing as there was nobody in the hall that could possibly hear them talking.

"I'm not sure exactly, people just never say his name any louder than a whisper, if at all. 'He who must not be named' is what people usually call him." She returned to talking at a normal volume, she then opened the door to another compartment, repeating what she had said to Elizabeth and the others about the missing toad.

"No I don't think I have." A girl with long wavy blond hair, with vacant blue eyes told them. She was sitting by herself in the compartment. "You should check with the nargles, they hide in mistletoe you know." The girl added.

"What's a nargle and why does it hide in mistletoe?" Elizabeth asked suddenly very curious to learn about things that hadn't been in the school books she had studied from front to back.

"I don't need to know." Hermione huffed leaving. Elizabeth walked in and sat down.

"I'm Elizabeth, I go by Ellie though." Elizabeth smiled at the girl.

"I'm Luna, Luna Lovegood." She smiled in return. For about 20 minutes the two talked on and on about the strangest things, nargles and whatnot. "We should be arriving soon, you should probably go change into your robes." Luna told her. Elizabeth looked down realizing she was still in her 'muggle' clothes.

"Yes I guess I should. It was great talking to you though Luna." She waved as she exited the compartment, returning to where Fred, George, and Katie were sitting. "Hello again." She smiled noticing that everyone was in their robes.

"Came to get your robes have you?" Fred asked her raising a brow.

"Why yes I have... Fred." She giggled in return knowing that he was testing her. Fred gave a small look of disappointment. Elizabeth spotted her bag up on the shelf above George's head, she walked over and began to reach up for it. Elizabeth however was quite short even for her age, the bag was very much out of her reach. George couldn't help but laugh. "Find my misfortune funny do you?" She asked with a small smile. George stood up and grabbed her bag for her.

"Always." He smiled, handing over the bag. She took the bag with a small blush on her face.

"I'll be right back." Elizabeth told them, as she quickly left the room to change. After a few minutes she returned to the compartment in her new school robes. She sat down next to Katie with a large smile on her face, looking forward to arriving at the school.

The train whistled loudly as it came to a stop at what Elizabeth assumed was the school grounds. Everyone got off the train and went to their designated areas. Elizabeth looked around, not sure where she was supposed to go, she then saw Luna in a group following a very large man with dark scruffy hair with a matching beard. She ran up next to Luna and smiled. "Hello again Luna, is this where first years are supposed to be?" She asked.

"Well considering that, the large man was yelling for first years to follow him I would assume so." Luna replied seriously. Elizabeth smiled with a small giggle and followed the rest of the first years towards the boats that would take them to the castle. Elizabeth sat in the boat with Luna, and soon after Hermione joined them.

"Wow this is so exciting." Elizabeth smiled as the boat began to glide across the water surrounding the castle, all on its own. It didn't take them long to reach the castle. Once there they were told to wait in the hallway until they got further instruction. I was standing with Hermione and Luna as a lady appeared before them. She introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, she told them about the four houses at Hogwarts.

"They are: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." She announced. Elizabeth saw a few boys snickering in the corner at the mention of Slytherin. She nudged Hermione lightly as she noticed a toad make its way in front of the Professor.

"Do you think that's the toad we were looking for?" She whispered into Hermione's ear.

"Trevor!" The boy Elizabeth assumed to be Neville went and picked up the toad. She did her best to stifle a giggle at the situation. After the Professor had left a small scuffle seemed to be going on ahead, but Elizabeth was far too worried with the sorting ceremony. Her mother was a Ravenclaw, and her father a Slytherin. But she wasn't like either of them, she didn't want to be like either of them. Eventually they were all instructed inside, the ceiling looked like the night's sky and candlesticks floated just above their heads.

"Wow, it's so beautiful." Elizabeth smiled. All the first year students gathered at the front of the great hall. The hall seemed to be split into four section, one for each house.

"Now, when I call out your name you will come and sit on the stool, I will place the sorting hat on your head and then you will be sorted." Professor McGonagall stated holding the sorting hat in one hand and a long piece of parchment in the other. Names began to be called and Elizabeth patiently waited, watching as the others got sorted. Hermione was in Gryffindor as well as Ron who Elizabeth learned was a Weasley, and the boy Harry that Hermione had mentioned, Luna was put in Ravenclaw.

"Elizabeth Hopestan." Her name was called, and her whole body tightened up. She made her way up where everyone could see her and sat herself on the stool. The professor placed the hat on her head, and he began to speak.

"Ah, Elizabeth, what a sweet, sweet, child. Full of potential, and untapped power. You are searching for something you have lost, you know not yet of what it is, but something lost can surely be found in ... HUFFLEPUFF." Elizabeth although confused by the sorting hat's words let out a sigh of relief, neither a Ravenclaw, or a Slytherin, she had wished a little that she might have gotten into Gryffindor, based on the fact that she recognized many more of the faces, but either way she did not mind. She went over to the table of clapping Hufflepuffs and took a seat.

Eventually after all the first years had been sorted, the Headmaster made a speech. He spoke of the Third Floor corridor and The Forbidden Forest, and how they were very much out of bounds to all students. Then the feast began.

I didn't speak much with the other Hufflepuffs, however I managed to sit on the side closest to the Gryffindor table and began introducing myself to Harry, and Ron, who had been sitting with Hermione.

"It's nice to meet you Ellie." Harry responded.

"Yeah, I'm surprised my parents never talked about yours seeing as you said they knew each other." Ron stated.

"I'm not, my dad doesn't seem to like your family much. It's more of my mom who's friends with your parents. Plus the fact they didn't even tell me about... all this." She waved her arms around the great hall.

"Did they tell you why they didn't?" Hermione questioned.

Elizabeth thought hard about the circumstances behind her parents reasoning. It made her heart sink remembering Hayley all over again. She had started to tear up a little, before anyone could notice she took a deep breath and shook it off. "Uh no, they didn't really. It was probably something really dumb. You know how parents can get, overprotective and such." Hermione and Ron nodded in agreement and Harry just kind of twiddled with his food. "Oh my, I apologize I didn't mean anything by that Harry." She quickly added remembering Hermione's story about his parents. Harry gave a small smile and a nod, it was silent for a minute before we were interrupted. The prefects had come to show us to our common rooms.

"First year Hufflepuff's this way!" Shouted the prefect, as we all followed close behind. There weren't too many first year Hufflepuffs it seemed. So it made it quite easy to keep up. They all followed until they had reached a nook at the right side of the Kitchen corridor. "Alright, to get into the common room can be a little bit complicated," He brought us over to a stack of barrels and pointed at a specific one. "Remember this barrel, imprint the position of this barrel in your mind and never ever forget where it is." He told us. "As long as you remember where this specific barrel is placed, it won't be at all complicated." Elizabeth put the position in her mind 'two from the bottom, middle of the second row' she repeated in her mind over and over until she was sure she had it. "Then all you have to do is tap this barrel to the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff'." He demonstrated. Elizabeth watched in awe as the lid of the barrel swung open to reveal the common room entrance.

Single file the first year students all made their way through the passageway to the common room. Elizabeth gasped at the beauty before her. It was almost like a greenhouse, only as she looked out the high windows of the dome shaped room she noticed they were several feet below the surface. As only the tops of the grass and a field of dandelions could be seen at eye level. The smell was earthly and vibrant. To Elizabeth this place felt like a home the moment she walked in. "You'll find tunnels about the common room that lead to different parts of the castle and to your dormitories. Girls' dorms are over there on the left, and boys' on over there on the right." The prefect pointed it out. Excited Elizabeth went through the tunnel to the girls' dorm.

The screech from Zephyr drew Elizabeth to her bed, it was the farthest back in the first room. She let Zephyr out of his cage and let him sit on her shoulder as she unpacked her things to her liking. Her robes that were once plain now dawned the Hufflepuff crest and colours. She was becoming more and more loving toward the idea of being a Hufflepuff, in the pit of her stomach she knew this was wear she was supposed to be. Eventually lights out came and she went to sleep in her new bed. She felt that being here was going to be an amazing adventure that she couldn't wait to begin.


End file.
